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More than two months have passed since super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hit the central part of the Philippines but many survivors are still complaining about the slow arrival of government relief in their communities. In one village in Palo, Leyte, dead bodies are still being retrieved:

In Brgy. San Joaquin, Palo, Leyte, more than 2 months after typhoon Yolanda, bodies are still being retrieved in a swampy area of the village. According to retrieval operations volunteers in the village, they did not receive support from government like equipment and manpower for the retrieval of dead bodies. Volunteers are having difficulty in retrieving the bodies because of the inaccessibility of the area and lack of equipment.

Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people (the government is not yet finished counting the dead) when it caused a four-storey storm surge in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. It was the world’s strongest and deadliest storm of 2013.

Millions were left homeless after Haiyan completely devastated large areas in the region. The ground zero of the disaster is Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province. A drone flight by the Thijs Bertels Videoproducties clearly documents the extent of destruction left by Haiyan in the city.

Adding to the burden of refugees is the reported construction of overpriced and substandard temporary shelters by the government. This latest scandal has enraged many people who accused politicians of stealing from the rehabilitation funds.

While victims of Yolanda endure the monsoon rains inside flooded tents and leaking houses, it’s urgent that the government and international partners prioritize plugging up these leaks and leaks of all sorts so that effective reconstruction efforts can move forward.

Despite the relief pledge of many countries, funds have not yet reached the Philippines according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad:

What we heard them say at the height of the Yolanda relief operations versus what you see them now delivering by way of cash, there's a big disparity.

Meanwhile, concerned citizens belonging to Kusog Tacloban have created an online petition asking foreign governments to make a complete accounting of the funds they gave to the Philippine government in order to monitor the utilization of the global aid:

Full transparency from you, the governments providing the aid, will enable us, watchdog groups, and concerned citizens, to hold government and private contractors to account in the difficult and long task of rehabilitation and rebuilding after Super Typhoon Yolanda. So we hope you, the foreign governments, continue to help us—please help us to monitor the rebuilding of our home.